Filner’s Kenyan connection?… Absent a potential birth certificate scandal, reporter/columnist Matt Hall has decided to make the Mayoral candidates cough up their college transcripts in hopes that something, anything will make for a story. And at least one of the SDUT’s reliably right wing commenters is having a cow because candidate Bob Filner apparently ignored the request. The lone democrat in the race has been known to not suffer foolish requests lightly, as he did earlier this year when the Voice of San Diego wanted him to give up political positions in three sentences or less. Our sources say that Filner’s crew is, in fact, trying to get the stone tablets from Cornell shipped off to Hall; they’re just having problems finding a shipper.

The wandering Bilbrays… The SDUT’s Watchdog (yip, yip) wants us to know that GOP Congressman Brian Bilbray has settled in to his Pacific Beach condo quite nicely, thank you. His residency was an issue back in 2005 when he changed his residency from Imperial Beach to Carlsbad shortly before he ran for the 50th District seat vacated by Randy “Duke” Cunningham. Since that time he’s relocated twice, first to a condo in Clairemont and most recently to the PB location. His Alexandria, Va. home, a mere 1,864-square-feet in size, with three-bedrooms, three-bathrooms and just a stone’s throw north of the Potomac River is also doing just fine, thank you again.

Diplomatic pressure increasing on Syria…Governments from Europe, Canada and Australia expelled Syrian diplomats in a coordinated action, after a horrific massacre where, according to the United Nations, families, including children, were shot at close range in their homes. The U.N. said 49 children and 34 women were among the 108 people killed. Even staunch ally Russia took take an unusually hard line against President Bashar Assad’s government. Moscow’s pro-Syria stance is motivated by its strategic and defense ties to Damascus, including weapons sales. Russia also rejects what it sees as a world order dominated by the U.S. Losing Russian support would be ruinous for Assad because the governments’ crackdown has left the country almost completely isolated internationally. Russia and China have thus far backed Assad, using their veto power to block U.N. resolutions against him.

Egypt’s election sets up showdown between pre and post revolutionary groups… A clear majority of voters affirmed last spring’s revolution, with a combined total of the three main pro-revolutionary candidates amounting to more than 65 per cent of the vote. Ballots cast in favor of leftovers of the old regime – feloolas as they’re called locally – amounted to less than 35 per cent. The support for the old regime’s remnants was motivated by fears that Islamist leaning parties would impose restrictions on the country’s minority Christian community and a corrupt government bureaucracy fearing the end of an era that granted them their special status in a nation in which 60 per cent of citizens live below or around the poverty line.

Massive computer virus identified… Researchers have identified a sophisticated new computer virus that appears to be used solely for espionage. The new virus is the largest and possibly most multifaceted piece of malware ever discovered, which has led researchers to conclude that it is state-sponsored. Skywiper or Flamer, as the virus has been named, may have been active for as long as five to eight years, using five encryption methods, three compression techniques and at least five file formats. It is capable of gathering intelligence by logging keyboard strokes, activating microphones to record conversations, taking screen shots, and is able to use Bluetooth wireless technology to send and receive data.

Get A Life: Law Enforcement Torch Run (2-Day Event) 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. Over 200 law enforcement personnel will run with a flame-lit torch from Chula Vista to Camp Pendleton. They’ll pass the torch from one to another in a relay format in support of the Special Olympics in Southern California.

The Starting Line will appear Monday-Friday in the San Diego Free Press starting on June 4th. Send your news tidbits, invitations to demonstrations and cultural commentary to DougPorter@SanDiegoFreePress.org.

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Doug- I’ll be starting my day with The Starting Line! Readers also need to know that 17,000 people signed a petition asking Arizona officials to investigate whether Romney is a unicorn. http://tinyurl.com/74prhv7

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